PROPERTY VERSUS PERSON
In a civilisation frankly materialistic and based upon property, not
soul, it is inevitable that property shall be exalted over soul, that
crimes against property shall be considered far more serious than
crimes against the person. To pound one’s wife to a jelly and break a
few of her ribs is a trivial offence compared with sleeping out under
the naked stars because one has not the price of a doss. The lad who
steals a few pears from a wealthy railway corporation is a greater
menace to society than the young brute who commits an unprovoked
assault upon an old man over seventy years of age. While the young girl
who takes a lodging under the pretence that she has work commits so
dangerous an offence, that, were she not severely punished, she and her
kind might bring the whole fabric of property clattering to the ground.
Had she unholily tramped Piccadilly and the Strand after midnight, the
police would not have interfered with her, and she would have been able
to pay for her lodging.
The following illustrative cases are culled from the police-court
reports for a single week:—
Widnes Police Court. Before Aldermen Gossage and Neil. Thomas Lynch,
charged with being drunk and disorderly and with assaulting a
constable. Defendant rescued a woman from custody, kicked the
constable, and threw stones at him. Fined 3s. 6d. for the first
offence, and 10s. and costs for the assault.
Glasgow Queen’s Park Police Court. Before Baillie Norman Thompson. John
Kane pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife. There were five previous
convictions. Fined £2, 2s.
Taunton County Petty Sessions. John Painter, a big, burly fellow,
described as a labourer, charged with assaulting his wife. The woman
received two severe black eyes, and her face was badly swollen. Fined
£1, 8s., including costs, and bound over to keep the peace.
Widnes Police Court. Richard Bestwick and George Hunt, charged with
trespassing in search of game. Hunt fined £1 and costs, Bestwick £2 and
costs; in default, one month.
Shaftesbury Police Court. Before the Mayor (Mr. A. T. Carpenter).
Thomas Baker, charged with sleeping out. Fourteen days.
Glasgow Central Police Court. Before Bailie Dunlop. Edward Morrison, a
lad, convicted of stealing fifteen pears from a lorry at the railroad
station. Seven days.
Doncaster Borough Police Court. Before Alderman Clark and other
magistrates. James M’Gowan, charged under the Poaching Prevention Act
with being found in possession of poaching implements and a number of
rabbits. Fined £2 and costs, or one month.
Dunfermline Sheriff Court. Before Sheriff Gillespie. John Young, a
pit-head worker, pleaded guilty to assaulting Alexander Storrar by
beating him about the head and body with his fists, throwing him on the
ground, and also striking him with a pit prop. Fined £1.
Kirkcaldy Police Court. Before Bailie Dishart. Simon Walker pleaded
guilty to assaulting a man by striking and knocking him down. It was an
unprovoked assault, and the magistrate described the accused as a
perfect danger to the community. Fined 30s.
Mansfield Police Court. Before the Mayor, Messrs. F. J. Turner, J.
Whitaker, F. Tidsbury, E. Holmes, and Dr. R. Nesbitt. Joseph Jackson,
charged with assaulting Charles Nunn. Without any provocation,
defendant struck the complainant a violent blow in the face, knocking
him down, and then kicked him on the side of the head. He was rendered
unconscious, and he remained under medical treatment for a fortnight.
Fined 21s.
Perth Sheriff Court. Before Sheriff Sym. David Mitchell, charged with
poaching. There were two previous convictions, the last being three
years ago. The sheriff was asked to deal leniently with Mitchell, who
was sixty-two years of age, and who offered no resistance to the
gamekeeper. Four months.
Dundee Sheriff Court. Before Hon. Sheriff-Substitute R. C. Walker. John
Murray, Donald Craig, and James Parkes, charged with poaching. Craig
and Parkes fined £1 each or fourteen days; Murray, £5 or one month.
Reading Borough Police Court. Before Messrs. W. B. Monck, F. B.
Parfitt, H. M. Wallis, and G. Gillagan. Alfred Masters, aged sixteen,
charged with sleeping out on a waste piece of ground and having no
visible means of subsistence. Seven days.
Salisbury City Petty Sessions. Before the Mayor, Messrs. C. Hoskins, G.
Fullford, E. Alexander, and W. Marlow. James Moore, charged with
stealing a pair of boots from outside a shop. Twenty-one days.
Horncastle Police Court. Before the Rev. W. F. Massingberd, the Rev. J.
Graham, and Mr. N. Lucas Calcraft. George Brackenbury, a young
labourer, convicted of what the magistrates characterised as an
altogether unprovoked and brutal assault upon James Sargeant Foster, a
man over seventy years of age. Fined £1 and 5s. 6d. costs.
Worksop Petty Sessions. Before Messrs. F. J. S. Foljambe, R. Eddison,
and S. Smith. John Priestley, charged with assaulting the Rev. Leslie
Graham. Defendant, who was drunk, was wheeling a perambulator and
pushed it in front of a lorry, with the result that the perambulator
was overturned and the baby in it thrown out. The lorry passed over the
perambulator, but the baby was uninjured. Defendant then attacked the
driver of the lorry, and afterwards assaulted the complainant, who
remonstrated with him upon his conduct. In consequence of the injuries
defendant inflicted, complainant had to consult a doctor. Fined 40s.
and costs.
Rotherham West Riding Police Court. Before Messrs. C. Wright and G.
Pugh and Colonel Stoddart. Benjamin Storey, Thomas Brammer, and Samuel
Wilcock, charged with poaching. One month each.
Southampton County Police Court. Before Admiral J. C. Rowley, Mr. H. H.
Culme-Seymour, and other magistrates. Henry Thorrington, charged with
sleeping out. Seven days.
Eckington Police Court. Before Major L. B. Bowden, Messrs. R. Eyre, and
H. A. Fowler, and Dr. Court. Joseph Watts, charged with stealing nine
ferns from a garden. One month.
Ripley Petty Sessions. Before Messrs. J. B. Wheeler, W. D. Bembridge,
and M. Hooper. Vincent Allen and George Hall, charged under the
Poaching Prevention Act with being found in possession of a number of
rabbits, and John Sparham, charged with aiding and abetting them. Hall
and Sparham fined £1, 17s. 4d., and Allen £2, 17s. 4d., including
costs; the former committed for fourteen days and the latter for one
month in default of payment.
South-western Police Court, London. Before Mr. Rose. John Probyn,
charged with doing grievous bodily harm to a constable. Prisoner had
been kicking his wife, and also assaulting another woman who protested
against his brutality. The constable tried to persuade him to go inside
his house, but prisoner suddenly turned upon him, knocking him down by
a blow on the face, kicking him as he lay on the ground, and attempting
to strangle him. Finally the prisoner deliberately kicked the officer
in a dangerous part, inflicting an injury which will keep him off duty
for a long time to come. Six weeks.
Lambeth Police Court, London. Before Mr. Hopkins. “Baby” Stuart, aged
nineteen, described as a chorus girl, charged with obtaining food and
lodging to the value of 5s. by false pretences, and with intent to
defraud Emma Brasier. Emma Brasier, complainant, lodging-house keeper
of Atwell Road. Prisoner took apartments at her house on the
representation that she was employed at the Crown Theatre. After
prisoner had been in her house two or three days, Mrs. Brasier made
inquiries, and, finding the girl’s story untrue, gave her into custody.
Prisoner told the magistrate that she would have worked had she not had
such bad health. Six weeks’ hard labour.